Strategies

While we’d all love to win the lottery, random chance is all that affects whether we win or lose. Here are some common questions:

Are past winning numbers a good bet?

Lottery numbers are chosen randomly by a ball drop or a random number generator, so there is an equal chance of a particular number being drawn with every draw.

Even if numbers have been selected more in past draws, this doesn’t mean they have a better chance of coming up again, since every draw is random.

Tip

There’s no advantage to picking numbers that have won more often in the past. The chances of winning are always the same for a given game, no matter how many times a number has won before.

Does it help to pick unpopular numbers?

Here’s something you can do that might have an impact on your game: studies show that most people play numbers based on special days of the month, such as birthdays and anniversaries. So, numbers greater than the number of days in the month, or over 31, are less frequently played.

If you do win with a less popular number, there may be less people to split a prize. So while picking these numbers won’t increase the odds of a win, it might increase the amount of a win.

Does it help to play the same numbers?

It might be fun to play the same numbers every week, but it doesn’t increase your odds of winning. With every draw, every number has an equal chance to be selected, so feel free to consider each draw as a clean slate. Go ahead and change it up.

By playing different numbers, you won’t have to think about missing “your” numbers if they come up and you didn’t play them.

Does it help to play at winning stores?

The fact is, only random chance determines where winning tickets will be sold, and every store that sells lottery tickets has an equal chance of selling one.

Does it help to buy multiple tickets?

It may be enticing to think that buying more tickets means more chances to win, but this does not drastically increase your odds of winning. Generally, any increase in the odds of winning by purchasing more tickets is marginal at best, and more tickets means spending more money.
Be careful not to go overboard buying tickets. Play it smart and stick to your budget.

This Web site is for the use of adults in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Lottery and charitable gaming products are only available to those persons 18 years of age and over, while casinos and slot facilities in Ontario are restricted to those persons 19 years of age and over.